Lake Sonoma 50

Flat Cyd ready to go!

Wheeeeeeeee! Finally a Lake Sonoma event finish. After crashing and burning attempting this race a few years ago, and then my silly pony falling off the trailer in his over-excitement and slicing his leg, I was wondering if this was a cursed location for me. Third time lucky though. I didn't take many pictures this time, my head wasn't really in the game, and I had to concentrate more than usual.

My big dilemma was what to do with my rain jacket - start with it, carry it all day, put it in a drop bag? As soon as I walked out to the truck I knew it was too warm to wear it, so opted for the Warm Springs drop bag, that we pass at miles 11.5 and 38. I didn't need it all day, so I'm glad to have not lugged it up all those hills. I arrived with plenty of time, most of which was taken up in the potty line. The first 2.4 miles are on road with no ducking access, so no chances taken by anybody. I had just enough time to stash my jacket under a tent ready for the finish, and join the back of the pack as we set off for a really long day.

It was really hard to watch the pack leaving on the road section, but I couldn't find my stride, there was a decent hill, and my lungs were taking a while to warm up. They're not quite recovered from the respiratory virus I finally had to admit to myself I had, part of the reason for my ridiculous taper of 1 run and 1 hike in 2 weeks. I also had a full belly from a reasonable breakfast, ~600 calories. I knew being forced to go slow early would pay off in the later miles. 

Once we hit the single track it was an easy cruise to the first aid station, a water only stop, ~4.3 miles. Nothing needed here except to thank the volunteers and start the long section to Warm Springs. I still hadn't quite settled in and the warm muggy weather was bothering me. The scenery was spectacular though, so I chose to focus on that. It was way too early in the day to be having thoughts of missing cut offs or dropping by choice. There was some limited, and not all cheerful, conversation on course, so I pushed to find a hole by myself. Arriving at the aid station cheered me up pretty quickly, there were volunteers and crews cheering for everyone and being very helpful. I found my drop bag and grabbed 3 baggies of Tailwind, 2 to refill my bottles now, and 1 to carry as a spare - my next drop bag wasn't for 14 more miles. I saw P here, who I had the pleasure of running a few miles with at MUC50k (and another race that neither of us remember). The section between here and Madrone Point aid is my favourite on the course. Spectacular views and single track makes Cyd a happy runner. There was a moment that I got a little frustrated trying to get by a group of 4 friends running together who weren't holding even a little bit consistent pace but refused to let me by. I got past 3 of them, and the leader of their pack, a stocky guy, was bombing away any time I tried to pass then literally stopping in front of me. I quickly got bored of this game and squeezed through the first gap I saw where he actually knocked into me. Yup, it's important to fight for that mid-pack spot a third of the way into the race. No acknowledgement of what you did? Screw you. I ran faster than I should have to get away from them and took a moment to remind myself that this was a very rare case in trail running and wasn't going to let it bother me too much. 

Spectacular scenery!

I caught up to the next little pack and we had a nice train going for a few miles. Every now and again the engine fell to the back, and before too long I was second in the line, and the two of us started pulling away from the group. I wasn't delighted with my pace still, until we came to Wulfow Springs aid, another water only stop. Here I realised that my Suunto wasn't keeping up on mileage and that I wasn't going as slow as I had thought. From then on I just concentrated on elapsed time, but of course I couldn't remember what my splits should be for my goals until the half way point. I knew speeding up was a bad idea, so figured I'd keep the effort level I was at until then and see what I needed to change for the second half. At 3h45 the race leader breezed by on his return journey. It was fun watching the elite runners come by, and love that so many of them spared a breath to acknowledge other runners on course. One of the reasons I love this sport! It was just a couple miles from Wulfow to Madrone Point aid and the first significant climb of the day (as per the website lol). I refilled one of my bottles, and set into the climb, fully prepared for the suckfest. Except it wasn't that bad. Not the most fun, for sure, but not as bad as I remembered. Added bonus that there were volunteers, spectators, and crew hiking up and down cheering runners as we went by, and a very encouraging crowd at the top. Next up, a long descent that I chose to forget had another big climb at the bottom and that I had to come back up it. 

The second 'significant' climb was as hard as I remembered, and while I didn't pass anybody on this one, I did manage to hold my own and pull away from those behind me. At the top it was just one mile to the turnaround along another fun single track. I got into No Name Flat aid station just 15 minutes behind schedule for my A-Goal of 12 hours. There was music playing, people cheering, volunteers rushing to help me. Someone found and handed me my drop bag, while another grabbed my bottles and the tailwind bags to fill for me so I could reapply vaseline. The banana chunks looked good so I scoffed one while my bottles were replaced in my pack for me - great service here!! Another banana chunk was put in my hand for the road and I was back on trail in less than 4 minutes!

Having just come up 2 big hills and down 1, this was obviously a mostly downhill section. I fell into stride with a couple of runners before we went down the hill. I don't remember how the subject came up, but we joked about how running was so bad for our knees, which clearly offended someone near us who started lecturing on how running really is bad for your knees. Seriously? Time to go fly down a hill and have some fun instead. I had a bit of a low point at the bottom and took some extra walking time. Even though it was seemingly flat, I knew it was a slight incline with a steeper hill to come so I felt okay with taking some extra time for myself. Before I knew it we were descending into Madrone Return aid, and I had the pleasure of chatting with Gunhild Swanson of 2015 Western States fame, who gave me some great advice on training and racing - thank you! For some reason Oreos looked delicious, so I figured it was worth a try and grabbed a couple, along with the tastiest donut hole, apparently crumb flavoured? I was really sensitive to peanut butter today, just the smell of it from runners I passed who'd opted for PBJ was enough to make me nauseous, and the sight of more sandwiches being made got me out of the aid station like a shot. 

Not sure if I should laugh or cry...

Back to my favourite section, and I felt much better than I had earlier in the day. I started setting my sights on runners ahead of me and slowly catching up and passing. I set myself hill goals, run up to that tree, don't walk until the rock, to keep me running hills. I started trying to figure out how much catching up I might have to do to still make 12 hours. There's a local 12.5 miles loop with lots of climbing that I can usually do in ~2h45. It was 12 miles from Warm Springs to the finish, with lots of climbing, but 38 miles of hills already on my legs. I got in to the aid station just after 9 hours. I got my tailwind from my drop bag and snagged some oreos and soda while my bottles were refilled (have I mentioned how great the volunteers were all day?!) I also got to see J from the training run here. We were both having a great time and talking to someone cheerful for a minute really gave me a boost - thanks J! I was very conscious of my goal though, and scooted out before I could get too comfortable. 

This section wasn't as bad as I was anticipating. It was going to be 7.4 miles to the next (and final) aid station, with many more hills. It was getting harder to chase down people ahead of me, but I was still managing to pass. There was a section where I couldn't stop clock watching and the miles just weren't going by as fast it felt they should relative to my effort level. I started focusing more on my surroundings instead, which helped. Finally the sign for the aid station was in sight. I took a couple swigs of soda and some oreos, made sure they tracked my number, and headed back for the trail. I knew I was going to be cutting it incredibly tight to make 12 hours with how fatigued I was and how much up, and was a little demoralised when I vocalised this and someone agreed with me. Nooo! I told my brain to shut it out and to give it a good try at least. I kept pushing until we were going up yet another never ending hill and I realised that we had three miles to go and I was definitely not getting in under 12 hours. For some reason it suddenly really mattered to me, and I felt really defeated. The wheels fell off and I found myself a nice tree stump to lean against. I realised that I could feel my pulse in my eyeballs and my ultraddlement (the brain addling that occurs in an ultra) was not allowing me to remember how to fix it. Thank you to the red jacketed runner who came by, said something that I don't remember, and got me moving again. I checked my watch and saw that I still had time to beat my PR even if I wasn't going to get my 12 hour goal. After that no matter how much I wanted to I wouldn't let myself stop completely. Walking up, shuffling the flats and downs. Keep moving forward. Soon I heard runners behind me, and decided that I was NOT going to be passed in the last 2 miles. Whenever I heard voices I forced myself to run even a few strides. 1.5 miles from the finish I took a completely unposed picture, and my suck-it-up happy face picture. Quite the difference! Finally I was startled by a lady waiting just off trail, who said I was nearly there, half a mile to go. I started getting a little emotional, and pushed on. A few minutes later I was again told it was a half mile. This was going to be the longest half mile ever! This person said I could start celebrating, which pretty much made me start sobbing (I was told that was cool too...) It also occurred to me that these people don't know how klutzy I am, and there was still every chance I could fall over, smack my head on a rock, and still DNF. I started watching the ground like a hawk, as emotional Cyd thought this was a very real possibility. I had to give myself a stern talking to when I realised that the heaving sobs were not helping me breathe, and WE WERE STILL GOING UPHILL DAMMIT! I could finally see the finish line, and a glance behind me showed someone was right there. I was not going to be passed within sight of the line. It was such a great feeling to run down the finishing chute, lined with spectators shouting and applauding and high fiving . One of the organisers and some volunteers were waiting there and hugs were distributed, directions to the finish line gear, drinks, and food were given, a chair found for me with strict instructions to not sit down yet (just cruel!). 

Don't believe everything you see!

Two days later and my quads are still on fire, and I'm still on a high. Technically I knew either a PR or a DNF were my options, since the cut off was 14 hours, and my official 50 mile time was 15:00:04 (Headlands 50, '14). Unofficially my PR was 12:25 (50 mile split at Ordnance 100k, '15). I completed Lake Sonoma in 12:15:40. I was really happy that I had managed to stay on track in the 2nd half, 15 minutes behind schedule at the turnaround, 15 minutes behind at the finish line. I estimate I took in about 2600 calories during the race: ~8 bottles of tailwind [24oz/250cals], 2 banana chunks, 8 oreos, ~1 can soda, absolutely no peanut butter!  I couldn't have asked for better weather, it cooled just enough once the rain started, and mostly the rain was a refreshing drizzle all day. I love theat my Suunto records the amount of time we spend going up and down. My hill stats for Lake Sonoma? 10946' elevation. 7:14:56 of ascent, 4:53:00 of descent. And flat time? 0:07:54! That's why they call this run 'Relentless'. 

50k Training Run

To round out my hat-trick of training runs, I planned my longest self-supported run. I have signed up for a 50k as a training run a few times, but my longest training run self supported has been 24 miles. I recruited some friends who all needed long runs that day in order to have company all the way. My chosen course? The Mendocino Coast 50k route! It's a beautiful course. Did I take pictures? Nope. Did I re-order tailwind in time? Nope. (Thank you T of former-training-buddy fame for saving me here.) Did I remember to eat appropriately the day before? Nope. Did I eat at all? Yes, six bananas blended with water. (Surprisingly satisfying, easy on my stomach, and helped me play fuel catch-up.) I was also convincing myself that my allergies were really bad, and that is why I had breathing/throat issues. I have since come to terms with the fact that I had some respiratory sickness, that finally made me take some time off. Being able to get through this run first was really good for my confidence though.

Love long runs with friends (Picture from D.L.)

Early start, picking S up at 5.15 (we had dropped his car at the point he would be finishing at the night before). The 2 of us ran the Headlands section around Mendocino, and met up with C and D at Russian Gulch. Through the campground, up North trail, and off to the waterfall, where B was waiting. The next section had a fun downhill, and a four mile section of mostly uphill. At the half way point, B and S peeled off, but H and M jumped in to run to the finish. They are both much faster than I am, but patiently toodled along with me. The wheels fell off a little in the last five miles, when I started experiencing a sharp pain in my shin. At first I put it down to having jabbed my shin into a fallen tree branch. I couldn't see any bruising though, and it had been a couple of hours. When the pain increased the further we ran, I opted to walk for a while, even though it was pretty flat terrain. Stress fracture was rolling around in the back of my head. Walking hurt it less. It did feel more like a soft tissue problem, and I went through a few range of motion tests to try and reassure myself. We ran some and walked some, and I finished my longest ever training run. If I had more time on Friday, I would have planted 2 aid stations instead of just 1. I was able to get by on what I had, but more would have been nice. I again found myself conserving in order to have enough to finish on.

Lake Sonoma Training Run

Last Saturday (now a few weeks ago...), the organisers of the Lake Sonoma 50 planned a training run on the course. It was a free event, open to all runners, not just those registered for the race. We were meeting at a parking lot near the turn around point, and shuttling to the start line in however many cars we needed. There was one aid station about half way through, and the turns were marked, but no confidence ribbons. A while back the RD had sent out an email telling us where they had stashed 10 gallons of water for runners training on the course, and which of the horse troughs had potable water. They also laid out a rope for the deepest creek crossing. It was determined a week before the training run that it would be safer to do an out and back from the turnaround point on the race. Since this is the section of course I wanted to run that was ideal for me, I always start my training runs from the Start/Finish area, so am familiar with that section.

Misty start, already climbing

Not staying there the night before meant getting up a stupid o'clock and leaving shortly after. I didn't eat sufficient breakfast at home or in the truck, which didn't help later in the day. After a quick briefing from the RD about important things to note for the day, we were off. It was a like a race start with everybody tearing away, and it was so hard to pace myself and watch everyone leave. A little up, a little down, and it was lake crossing time. We had been forewarned that a couple of days ago, the RD had to swim this section for about ten yards. They gave directions for a way around by going back up the hill, um no thanks.

Uh, there's some lake in my trail..

It turned out to be not that deep, as long as you didn't wander into the lake bit of the lake - a few runners did get very wet trying to take a short cut. On the way back it was very refreshing, I was hat-dunking at any water stop. Keeping cool is going to be a big part of my race day.

Wading across

The Orange Mud pack was great, although not quite enough for the lack of aid stations. I really could have a used a third bottle on the way back. It was comfortable and didn't chafe even though I was in a t-shirt all day.

At least we'll have amazing scenery to enjoy

Cloud cover would be welcome on race day

There were some fun people on course to share miles with, so I had company for more than half the run. It was fun to hear lots of excited chatter about S's Mendocino Coast 50k.

It was very reassuring to feel strong on this run a week after a hard effort at Marin Ultra Challenge 50k. I was certainly tired at the end and ready stop, but on tired legs and under-fueled it was great training - 26 miles and about 5000'. I'm excited for the race this weekend, but due to various things, I've only run once in the last ten days. Guess I'm going with well-rested?